Friday, February 09, 2007

Anna Nicole Smith Died. So Did Three American Troops

Paul Rieckoff, an Iraq war Veteran and the Executive Director and Founder of IAVA (Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America), hits the nail squarely on the head with his piece in The Huffington Post today. Rieckoff talks about our brain-dead, corporate media and how quickly real news goes out the window if someone like Anna Nicole Smith dies.

An excerpt:

Anna Nicole Smith died about 24 hours ago. Over the same time period, at least three of our troops and countless Iraqis have died in a war that might turn out to be the greatest foreign policy blunder in our country's history. Even as I write this, all three networks are covering a live press conference by Smith's attorney. I want to put my fist through the TV.

Wake up, America. This is not news. It does not matter. Think of our troops. Think of the Iraqis. Think of the families of people serving in Iraq right now.

Political writer Bob Geiger is the award-winning author of the Yellow Dog Blog and BobGeiger.com and specializes in coverage of the U.S. Senate. He won the 2005 Weblog Awards prize for Best New Blog and was a finalist in the Koufax Awards in 2005 for his column "I Know This Little Boy in New Orleans."

He is the coauthor of The Real McCain and his work has appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the New York Journal News. A contributing writer to The Huffington Post and Alternet, Bob also makes appearances to comment on Senate activity on many popular radio programs.